Cards on the Table (1936) - featuring Hercule Poirot - written by Agatha Christie

Cards on the Table was a very interesting piece of fiction, taking a unique mix of 4 people who could have committed murders in the past, and combining this with a mix of 4 detectives from Christie's earlier books. The main characters in this book are:
The Four Apparent murderers:
- Dr Roberts, a physician and a hearty man
- Mrs Lorrimer, a well-to-do gentlewoman of middle age and an expert bridge player
- Major Despard, a dashing explorer suspected of killing a rival earlier
- Anne Meredith, a pretty, impecunious and poor young woman
All of them have been brought together by a strange man called Mr. Shaitana, who meets Poirot at a cultural event, and then declares that for a detective such as Poirot, the collection of murderers that Shaitana has (who were never caught) would be much more interesting. In the bridge game, he brings in 4 detectives:
- Superintendent Battle, an officer from Scotland Yard
- Colonel Race, a MI6 agent who had worked with Poirot before
- Ariadne Oliver, writer of popular detective fiction
- Hercule Poirot, the private detective



In the Bridge game the 4 detectives play Bridge separately in a different room, and the other 4 play Bridge in a different room, with Mr. Shaitana in the same room. However, several hours later, at the end of the session, when people go to thank Mr. Shaitana, they realize that he is dead, having been stabbed by a jeweled stiletto; and since none has arrived in the room, it has to be one of the 4 who is the murderer.
Then these 4 detectives start detailing the past history of these characters, trying to figure out who was guilty of which crime in the past. Poirot also tried to figure out from each of the players as to who played bridge in which style, to try to determine from each of the players what they thought of the other's level of playing, as also about what was happening in the room.
And then at one point, one of them confesses to Poirot to the crime, but he does not really believe this and when she is killed the next day, it is even more clear that they need to find the killer soon; and Poirot does eventually deliver.